Traitor
by Open Casket Ceremony
Summary: In a war between Japan and China, Ren is captured, but rescued from his cruel interrogator by Horohoro. Ren must now decide if he is to betray China for the one he loves or abandon Horohoro for his country. M for violence, language, and suggestive themes.
1. Captured and Rescued

Disclaimer: Don't own, never will, purely fiction, blah blah blah.

Author's Notes: Yes, yes, another sickeningly corny and cliched war story with underlying romance. Oh well. I like the action, violence, and meotions put into a war, and it seems to be able to accomadate another of my HoroRen fics fairly well.

For the "Grand Opening," here's a special, longer chapter to introduce you into the story.

Enjoy.

* * *

It had already been 3 years since Japan and China had begun warring wtih each other. At about this point, China appointed a new captain into their ranks to lead a fleet straight into Japan to attack and raid supplies. The new captain was surprisingly young, he couldn't have been older than 16. In fact, he was one of the youngest soldeirs there. However, he was a Tao, valued for his shamanic ability and high-level fighting skills. He was known as Tao Ren. Though he was but a mere boy, his very name struck fear into the hearts of full-grown Japanese soldiers.

Japan also appointed an equally young captain, Usui Horohoro. Horohoro was a good-natured boy who provided for his family, and he was sought after for the Japanese army because he was a shaman. He agreed to become captain, though he hated the chaos, death, and fear that all went into a war. Assisting him were the Asakura twins, Hao and Yoh, who also were powerful shamans in their own rights.

The two sides met in a fierce battle just of Japan's coastline.

Ren realized too late that he and his men were badly outnumbered. Surrendering would be a tremendous dishonor, however, and he decided he'd rather die than to face the humiliation. He ordered the troops to do their best and keep fighting, no matter what.

He struck left and right with his kwan dao, with the assistance of his spirit ally, Bason. Heads flew, blood splashed, corpses fell limply to the floor. Ren swept across the battlefield as all his men fell one by one. The sun was setting, yet he refused to give in.

Two days passed.

Although he didn't know it, Ren was the last Chinese standing in that battle. He had no way of knowing this, for near the beginning of the second day, somewhere from behind him, someone had knocked him on the back of the head. He had fallen from his horse, unconcious, and unaware of the terrifying experiences he was soon to encounter.

Much later, he woke up to find himself in what appeared to be a relatively large tent, his weapon confiscated and his possesions stolen. He moaned softly, shaking his head to try to rid himself of the throbbing pain in his skull. He noted that his hands were chained tightly behind his back, leading him to conclude that he was in a tent meant for prisoners of war, in the midst of a Japanese army's campsite. Meaning soon enough, someone would come to interrogate him.

He was right.

"My, my...what do we have here?" A thin, amused voice cut through the silence.

Ren tensed as he saw a relatively tall person with long dark brown hair enter, a whip coiled around his left arm. By the looks of it, he couldn't have been much older than him.

"My name's Asakura Hao," announced the person, approaching Ren. "And you must be...the grand captain Tao Ren, pride of China. I'm correct, aren't I?"

Ren glared defiantly at Hao and spat at his feet, refusing to answer his captor.

Hao titlted Ren's face upwards with his finger so he was looking at him straight in the eye. "Hmm," the fire shaman mused. "Not bad. Not bad at all. You're a cute one." Ren turned his face away in disgust as Hao laughed. "I'm going to ask you a few simple questions, and you'd better answer me candidly, do you understand?"

Ren made no effort to reply.

Ignoring his silence, Hao continued. "I want to know what our good friend China's planning next. Where are they going to attack, and how many soldiers are they bringing? If you refuse to tell me, I'll make sure you feel more pain than you've ever had before."

"Hmph," the boy scoffed. "Like hell I'll answer you. I'd rather die than betray my country."

"You're a brave one," Hao commented as he unlooped the whip. "But I doubt you'll be able to keep your noble promise."

Ren bit back the scream he longed to let out as he felt the whip slash his pale flesh, creating a deep bloody red mark. "I already told you, bastard. Do whatever you want to me. Kill me, if you must, but I'm not going to answer any of your stupid questions."

"Is that so?"

Ren couldn't help but cry out as he felt Hao strike him again, and again, and again with the whip, making fresh new wounds.

"You're a worthless Chinese bitch and a worthless Chinese whore," Hao spat. He grabbed the boy's deep purple-black hair, jerking his head forward. "And do you know what Chinese bitches and Chinese whores are for?" he whispered in his ear.

Ren shuddered as he felt Hao's cold breath sweeping across his shoulders and down his neck. He squirmed uncomfortably, trying to put some distance between himself and his interrogator.

"They're for fucking."

Hao turned him around so his back was to him, pinning him against the wall with one of his hands. Ren cried out and struggled wildly as he felt Hao's free hand travel down his body, skimming over his hips and beginning to pull at his ripped pants.

"No...stop...you bastard...please...don't..." he stammered fearfully, wriggling about like a worm on a hook.

At that moment, another person entered the tent.

"Stop it, Hao. Leave him alone."

Hao released Ren, spinning around to face the person who had addressed him. "I'm sorry, sir," he muttered unhappily. "It won't happen again." He gave Ren a final vicious slap before stalking out the tent.

Ren looked up, curious to see who had arrived on the scene. His eyes met with those of a blue-haired Japanese boy, an Ainu, who also couldn't have been much older than him.

"I never asked for your help, you know," Ren snapped.

"I know you didn't," replied the boy. He extended his hand for a shake. "Hi, I'm Horohoro, captain of these troops here. And you are?"

Ren glared at him. Kami, was he stupid. It was a surprise he was a captain at all.

"Oh," Horohoro said quickly. "Oops. I forgot about your hands." He reached behind Ren, gently taking his hands in his own and removing the chains, noting that they had been fixed on so tightly that Ren's hands had become paler than the rest of his flesh due to the constriction of his blood flow. "Gosh, which idiot put these on?" he muttered. "They really aren't neccesary." He put the chains aside, sticking his hand out again. "Can we shake now?" he asked cheerfully.

"No."

Horohoro frowned. "Oh, really? Well, that's too bad, I guess. It's okay, though, 'cause I already know your name. It's Tao Ren, right? Aren't you a Chinese captain or something?"

"That's none of your business," Ren said irritably.

The Ainu grinned. "I knew I was right." He took Ren's hand, pulling him to his feet. "C'mon, Ren. I'll get you a decent place to stay." He winced as he saw the long red gashes Hao had caused. "And I'll take care of those ugly cuts over there."

"Like I said," Ren spat, jerking his hand away fiercely. "I don't need your help."

"Uh, yeah you do," Horohoro commented. "In case you haven't noticed, you-"

_Thud._

"See? There you go," Horohoro said as Ren passed out again, slumping limply to the floor. He knelt down and hoisted the unconcious Chinese boy onto his back, walking cheerfully towards his own tent.

"I like this kid. He's a funny guy."


	2. Decision

Ren opened his eyes to once again find himself in an unknown place. It had to be better than his previous location, though, because it was warm, safe-looking, and he didn't have the intuition that someone was about to come in and beat him up.

He sat up, wincing a little at the pain in his body. There was a small fire radiating warmth nearby, and he realized that he was sitting in some kind of fold-out bed, and his body had been securely bandaged in several places.

"Oh, you're awake," Horohoro said peppily, his face popping into Ren's field of vision, causing him to jump a little.

"Stupid Ainu!" Ren snapped. "Get away from me."

"Hey," Horohoro said, slightly hurt. "I'm only trying to help you, okay?"

"If you want to help so bad," Ren shot back, "Then hurry up and release me."

The Ainu shook his head. "No can do."

"And why not?"

"_Because_," he said in a low voice. "There's that annoying officer out there, that Asakura Hao guy. If I release you, then he has full power to take you back, if he can, and...do whatever he pleases with you."

Ren snorted in disgust. "I hate that guy," he said flatly.

"Yeah," Horohoro agreed. "I kind of do, too." He, up to this point, had been poking some scrawny dead fish over the fire, attempting to cook them. He removed them from the rack they had been roasting them on and handed one to Ren. "You look hungry. Want some?"

"No," the Chinese boy spat. "I don't want your pathetic excuse for food."

"Fine, Horohoro said with a shrug. "I'll eat it myself, then."

Seconds later, two people entered. Ren scowled when he realized one of them was Hao, and the other was a less sinister looking boy who must have been his brother, since they looked so much alike.

"Hi," Horohoro said cheerfully, his mouth stuffed with food. "Good morning, Yoh-san, Hao-san. Anything you wanted to see me about?"

"Yeah," Yoh said. "I was just..." He stopped, turning to look at Ren. "Who's he?" he inquired.

"Just some random stupid Chinese prostitute we picked up," Hao said icily. His statement led Yoh to look at Hao with a strange expression on his face.

"C'mon, Hao," Horohoro said, swallowing his mouthful of fish. "You know perfectly well he isn't anything like that." Turning to Yoh, he continued to speak. "He's _really_ Tao Ren, you know, the kid who was captain of the Chinese troops we fought a couple days ago."

"_Ohhhh!_" Yoh laughed. He waved in a carefree manner. "Hi, Ren," he said. "I'm Asakura Yoh."

Ren glared at him. "You mistaken me for someone who gives a shit."

Yoh started laughing again. "He's really funny, Horo," he said between giggles.

"I know! Isn't he?" the Ainu agrred cheerfully.

Hao pursed his lips in a thin line, looking most displeased. "I must tell you, Horohoro, sir, I have to insist that no good will come out of keeping the boy. We might as well sell him to some brothel in the next town we pass. At least that way we'll make a profit."

"Huh?" Horohoro and Yoh grunted stupidly in unison.

Hao's thin scowl darkened. "I mean, he's in good physical health, he has a pretty face, I'm sure he would fetch a good sum."

Horohoro frowned. "I don't think that's necessary, Hao," he said. "Just tell me what you came here to tell me and leave."

Hao's eyes narrowed. "_Sir_, I only came to tell you that our troops are ready to move out by tomorrow towards the woods which are being held under siege by Chinese to reclaim our property."

"Good," Horohoro said as Hao passed him the battle plans. "That's very good. You're excused."

Hao shot Ren one final glare before stalking out the tent, followed closely by Yoh, who was grinning and waving like an idiot.

"So," Horohoro said to Ren, pocketing the plans. He extended his hand towards the Chinese boy. "Will you fight with us?"

Ren ignored the hand. "Never. I have something called honor that you Japanese might not."

"What're you saying? We have plenty of honor. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had samurai!" He smiled hopefully. "So, will you?"

"_I already said no!_" Ren spat.

The Ainu scratched his head. He got up from his seat and shrugged. "Don't forget, Ren. I rescued you. It's only polite to return me a favor." He exited the tent, leaving with the words, "Think about it. I'll be waiting for your answer tomorrow morning."


End file.
